Growing tomatoes in your garden

SALT LAKE CITY — The big topic of the week last week on the KSL Greenhouse show was tomatoes. The reason? Dave Mecham from KSL NewsRadio joined Taun as a guest co-host, and he loves talking about growing tomatoes.

Although it’s common to come across problems while growing tomatoes, for the most part, it’s relatively easy. Last year there were many problems because of the weather from mid-April to mid-June.

“The top thing that I see in tomatoes is curly top… Most of the tomatoes we’re growing are fairly disease-resistant. As long as you’re rotating, we don’t see a lot of problems,” Taun said.

“One of the reasons I really like the Celebrity [tomato] is because it’s even more disease-resistant than most varieties,” Dave said.

Another common disease that tomatoes get is early blight. If you’re growing them in a raised bed, Taun suggests growing them there for two years and then giving them one year off.

“The first year, I’ll grow the tomatoes in rows going north and south. Then the next year, I plant the tomatoes going east and west, trying to minimize exposure so I don’t plant them in the exact same spot every year,” Taun said.

After that second year, you can give it a year off before going back in. During that one-year break, you can grow other things like green beans, squash, root crops, and even some cover crops.

Listen to the full segment on our podcast below!

The KSL Greenhouse is on every Saturday from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. You can follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and on our website.